oil and water

oil and water

English

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Noun

oil and water pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic) Two things which are incapable of mixing or coexisting harmoniously with each other.
   • 1982, Winston Graham, The Miller's Dance, Pan Books (2008), →ISBN, unnumbered page:

     We are oil and water. There are few things he and I agree on but I believe we would agree on this.

   • 2009, Brian Schofield, Selling Your Father's Bones: America's 140-Year War against the Nez Perce Tribe, Simon & Schuster (2009), →ISBN, page 31:

     […] second, that the white and red man were oil and water, incapable of safely sharing a landscape.

   • 2011, Loretta M. Siani, The Alchemy of Prayer: How It Began and Why It Is the Medium of Miracles, iUniverse (2011), →ISBN, page 47:

     Forgiveness and making bargains are oil and water. They don't mix.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:oil and water.